In the latest Milken Institute Review, Ellen Seidman (Urban Institute), Phillip Swagel (Milken Institute), Sarah Rosen Wartell (Urban Institute) and Mark Zandi (Moody's Analytics) offer a sweeping plan for rebooting America's housing finance system. "Our proposal would keep a federal backstop in place, but limit taxpayer risk by putting investors' capital in a first-loss position. We would retain several roles for the feds, including insuring the system against catastrophe, standardizing mortgage securitization and only subsidizing homeownership in visible and easily understood ways."

Also in this issue: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's go-for-broke program to jolt the Japanese economy from its slumber, the road to obsolescence for TV programming, Burma's path to integration with the global community, a critical look at personalized medicine, an analysis of Mexico's political and economic future, an outline to the depths in which the Palestinian economy has fallen, and more.